Reaffirmation

 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.

2 Corinthians 2:8 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/2co.2.8.ESV


One of the main themes in the Bible is 'love'. So maybe this verse doesn't surprise us. But when we consider who its referring to, it is a surprise. Paul is asking the Corinthian church to love the unlovely.


In 1 Corinthians, Paul tells the Corinthian church to kick out a man who had his father's wife, probably his stepmum, in an incestuous relationship. Excommunication might not seem loving, but if someone sins so overtly and unrepentantly, they themselves are being unloving. The church isn't just to be loving but also holy. 


Love shouldn't accept that which is unloving. But in 2 Corinthians, it appears that the excommunicated man has repented and renounced his sin. The Corinthian church, in their zeal for doing what was right, were refusing to welcome him back, but Paul urged them to.


How are we with loving the unlovely? Someone might have offended us, and our sense of what is right. But if they repent, we are to be reconciled to them.


'Loving Heavenly Father, thank You for loving unlovely people like us. Please help us to love one another, even when it's hard. In Jesus' name, amen'


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